How cold can help covid-1 off: Rhinovirus can start the body’s antiviral defense by jumping and equipping the immune system to protect against another disease, scientists say.
- Suffering from normal, can provide protection against coronavirus
- Experts at Yale University have discovered that rhinoviruses initiate our antiviral defenses.
- Now they are investigating whether it can do the same against coronavirus
Sorrow The common cold can provide protection against covid contractions, scientists believe.
U.S. Experts at Yale University have found that the most common cause of the common cold – a rhinovirus attack – is the body’s antiviral defenses, which are equipped to protect the immune system from other viruses.
Now they are investigating whether it does the same against coronavirus.
The body fights the rhinovirus by producing interferon.
Earlier, scientists weren’t sure if the interferon produced in response to one virus would recognize another, but the Yale study suggests that exposure to rhinovirus triggers an immune response to the flu, suggesting it protects against other viruses.
Experts at Yale University believe that people suffering from the common cold may be protected from contracting the Covid-19 virus (file photo).
They are now looking into whether the introduction of the cold virus before infection by the Covid-19 virus provides similar protection.
Dr Ellen Foxman of Yale School of Medicine said that interferon defense only works in early infections so it could be used as a way to temporarily protect people at high risk.
Dr. Foxman said: ‘The common cold virus stimulates the normal antiviral defenses of these cells that form the lining of the airways.
‘So all these viruses need to grow in the cells that make up the lining of the airways.
‘It includes the flu, the common cold, Covid-19 – basically all the viruses you get by inhaling them all grow in these tissues that make up the lining of your airways.’
She added: ‘This response, the interferon response, which is the common defense mechanism against all these viruses, we know that the response works against Covid-19.
‘If you experiment in the laboratory, you can apply this chemical – interferon – to cells, then you can block the virus that causes covid-19.
‘So it’s possible we’ll see the same thing, but we’ve just started experimenting.
‘Sometimes you see unexpected things happen so you just have to experiment and see what the result is and that’s just a function of progress at the moment.’
Dr. Foxman said she thought the interferon-based immune system lasted about a week, maybe up to two, adding that it could not stop the infection forever.
But she explained that it could provide a ‘temporary buffer against another virus’ when the body was all ‘updated’ to fight it.
Scientists have found that the most frequent cause of the common cold is the rhinovirus, which triggers the body’s antiviral defense and the immune system is equipped to get rid of other viruses (file photo).
However, the expert said that while he is convinced that this can be applied to the flu, Covid-19 is unpredictable.
‘One unexpected thing is the entry receptor that Covid-19 uses to enter your body – there have been some reports that it can be enhanced by interferon.
‘So, we just have to look at how important this antiviral defense is compared to having it ready,’ said Dr. Foxman.
She said interferon defenses can be very powerful against many viruses, but they only work early in the infection because they prevent the virus from growing.
Dr Foxman said interferon is already being used as an antiviral treatment for other conditions, and trials looking at their use to combat covid-19 suggest that there may be some benefit if given early in the infection.
He added: “We can think hard about stimulating this general response as a way to temporarily protect people at high risk – who are at risk of being exposed.”
She warns that the interferon response stimulates many symptoms, such as colds, adding: ‘It probably doesn’t make sense when you talk about preventing a more serious virus.’
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